What if Family Matters
by Katy M VT
Summary: What if Cas made a different diagnosis?  Spoilers through Like a Virgin.


What if Castiel made a different diagnosis?

Castiel looked deep into Sam's eyes as he sat tied to the chair. "I can't believe I didn't see this before," he said.

"See what?" Dean asked.

"Lucifer is in him," Cas stated simply.

"Then why is he just sitting there glaring at us and not busting out of those ropes?" Dean asked. He had been afraid of this, but couldn't believe it. Didn't want to believe it.

"He has lost most of his powers. Remember after I tangled with the angels to attempt to save your brother Adam and I lost most of my powers. The only thing I retained was the ability to control my vessel and a few other little odds and ends. That's all Lucifer has now," Castiel explained.

"But, Sammy's still in there?" Dean asked. "Is he OK? Is he in pain?" Dean felt very disloyal for thinking that the thing that he'd been walking around the last few months could have been Sam. Why hadn't he picked up on this way sooner?

"He's still in there. I have no idea whether or not he's in pain, or awake or what."

Dean glanced over at Lucifer. "Well?" he asked.

"Why would I tell you anything?" Lucifer asked. He was thinking of denying everything, but he had really screwed up when he had allowed Dean to turn into a vampire. Dean had known something was up before then, but had been willing to overlook because he wanted to.

Dean knew he was right. He couldn't torture it out of Lucifer. That was Sammy's body. He turned to Cas. "Is there any way to exorcise him or something?"

"Regular angels can be exorcised, but not archangels or Lucifer. They are too strongly connected to their vessels. However, in this state, he can be killed."

Sam wasn't living much of a life now, so it might not be the worst option. "What would happen to Sam's soul if he were to die now? Would he go back to the cage, regular Hell, or Heaven?"

"His soul would be forever entwined with Lucifer's," Castiel admitted, even though he realized that it would mean that Dean would reject this plan. After all the Winchesters had done, the least he could was be completely honest. On the other hand, he too late realized that a lie probably would have been kinder, not to mention more efficient for him. He really didn't have time for this.

Dean let out a sigh. He couldn't let that happen. Sam's soul needed to be freed from Lucifer. "There has to be a way we can get Lucifer out," Dean insisted.

"The only way would be if Lucifer chose to leave the body."

"Leave the body or I kill you," Dean said to Lucifer.

"First of all, the one thing everybody knows about Dean Winchester is that he would never do anything to hurt his little brother. Second of all, what my dear younger brother neglected to mention is that if I leave my vessel in this state, I will die anyway. So, what's my up side?" Lucifer asked.

"Sam took control when the devil was in full power. Why can't he do it now?" Dean asked.

"I don't know how your brother managed to take control. I've never heard of a vessel taking control over its angel. To do it again seems totally impossible," Cas said. "Even if he could, he couldn't sustain it forever."

"Wait. I just remembered. There is one way to remove the devil from his vessel. That amulet of yours has two purposes. It burns hot in God's presence, and it chases the devil out of its presence. If you placed the amulet over Sam's head, the devil would be expelled."

Dean had always regretted throwing out that amulet, but now he regretted it more than ever.

"Where is it, Dean?" Castiel asked when Dean made no move.

"I threw it out right after you gave it back to me," Dean admitted.

"Why did you do that? I thought it meant a lot to you," Castiel was confused. Dean hadn't wanted to loan it to him. He had asked for it back several times. Yet, the second he got it back he threw it out. Sometimes he just didn't understand people, especially those of the Winchester variety.

"It's a long story," Dean said.

"I'd love to hear it," Lucifer said.

Dean just glared at him.

"I already know it. I'm inside Sam's head." He turned to Castiel. "The reason the amulet meant so much to him because it was a gift from Sam. Sam disappointed him after their little trip to Heaven and he didn't want it anymore. It was the ultimate betrayal of Sam. It really hurt his feelings."

"Shut up!" Dean yelled at Lucifer. He had felt terrible about it after he and Sam had made up, but that was a couple of weeks later. He had no way to find it then.

"Well, if you don't know where it is, then we're back to killing them," Castiel said.

Lucifer smiled. He knew Dean wouldn't allow that. Of course, he also knew where the amulet was. Sam had pulled it out of the wastebasket and hidden it at the bottom of the weapons cache in the Impala. Apparently Dean hadn't been that far down. Or had cleaned it out and unknowingly thrown it out again. That was why Sam had hidden it. He hadn't wanted Dean to throw it out again, but he wanted to make sure he always had it. Idiot.

"Maybe we can find another one?" Dean suggested.

"There were only 3 made. One was the one you ended up with. One was destroyed in one of the Crusades. And one is buried underneath the rubble at Pompeii. We'd never find that one either," Castiel said.

"How did Bobby end up with such a rare amulet?" Dean mused aloud.

"It was destiny that you have it," Castiel answered simply.

Dean rolled his eyes. He didn't ever want to hear anything about destiny ever again. "Well, maybe it's my destiny to find it, then," he said saracastically. "What do we do with him while we're looking?" Dean asked, indicating Lucifer.

"I'll go outside and see if you have anything in your trunk we can use to make sure he is extra secure," Castiel said.

"No!" Lucifer shouted.

Of course Castiel and Dean ignored him. Castiel went outside while Dean watched Lucifer. "You might as well just leave of your own accord, because you are going to leave my brother's body."

Lucifer knew that was true. There was no way Castiel would miss that amulet while searching the trunk. "Maybe I'll kill Sam first," he threatened. "Let me go, or I'll kill him."

"No way. Sam is not living with you inside him forever. Not going to happen."

Castiel came back. "Dean, I found your amulet in the trunk."

"What?" Dean asked. Castiel held it up. "How did it get in there?"

"How do you think, you moron? Sam picked it up out of the trash can and put it in there, underneath everything so you would eventually find it, but not too soon."

While Lucifer was saying all that Dean walked up to him and slipped the amulet over his head. Sam or Lucifer screamed and white light poured out of him. Sam then slumped down in the chair he was still tied to, his eyes closed, deathly still. Dean reached down and felt for a pulse. He closed his eyes in relief, when he felt it. "Will he be OK?" Dean asked.

"I don't know. You may want to untie him."

"Yeah, right," Dean said. Cas could always be counted on to point out the obvious. Dean cut the ropes from Sam's wrists and turned back to ask Cas to help Sam to the bed. Cas was gone. "Just once it would be nice if he would tell me he was leaving," Dean muttered under his breath. He grabbed some blankets and pillows off the bed and arranged them on the floor and lowered Sam gently down. Then, he began his vigil.

SSS

Four hours later Sam opened his eyes. "Sam?" Dean asked.

Sam groaned.

"Sam?" Dean repeated.

"Dean," Sam whispered.

"Are you OK?" Dean asked.

"No," Sam whispered. He had had the devil inside him for over a year. He had lost most of his mojo but he was still pure evil. "Dean, we have to stop him."

"Lucifer? He's dead. Cas said he couldn't live outside of you," Dean reassured his brother.

"No, not Lucifer. Samuel. He's up to something. Lucifer was working with him. Samuel didn't know it was Lucifer, but considering the fact that they were working towards the same goal, it's got to be bad."

"What were they working on?" Dean asked. He was concerned by the fact that Sam had made no move to sit up. But, on the other hand, his voice was getting stronger as he went on.

"Samuel is capturing alphas and handing them over to Crowley. Crowley's torturing them trying to find out where Purgatory is," Sam said.

"Why?" Dean asked.

"Samuel's doing it because Crowley promised to bring back Mom. I'm a little fuzzy on what Lucifer and Crowley want, but I think they may have been working at cross-purposes. I think Lucifer was planning on crossing him."

"Will Crowley be able to tell you aren't Lucifer anymore?" Dean asked. Maybe Sam could have a little undercover conversation with Crowley.

"I don't know," Sam said.

"Alright. Let's go," Dean said.

SSS

Sam and Dean walked into the Campbell compound. Sam was trying not to act as tentative as he felt. He knew how confident Lucifer had strutted around this place. "Sam," Christian came up and greeted him with a hug.

Sam realized that he had neglected to tell Dean that Christian was a demon. Well, no time for that now. "Christian," Sam said. "Good to see you."

"The old man around?" Dean asked.

"In his office."

Sam and Dean went back there. "What can I do for you boys," Samuel asked when Sam and Dean walked in the room. He was surprised Sam had brought Dean here. They had agreed that Dean should be left out of their little alpha project.

"We need to talk to Crowley," Sam said.

Samuel looked from Sam to Dean. "What are you doing?"

"I want to find out what Crowley wants with Purgatory. You know it can't be good, right?" Dean asked.

"Why did you tell him about that?" Samuel asked.

Sam felt weird. He had memories of having conversations with this man, but it was all through a fog. Lucifer had kept him awake most of the time, mostly to taunt him, he thought. The exception was for his solo talks with Crowley. He was always put to sleep for those. Probably some other stuff, too. Sam couldn't really be sure. "He can help," he answered lamely.

"It was your idea to keep him out," Samuel reminded him.

"Things change," Dean said. "We need to talk to Crowley." Dean was so mad at Samuel. Working with a demon. What was he thinking?

Samuel sighed. It was probably too late to get rid of them anyway. "He's coming by soon to give us some info on the alpha vamp we're hunting."

As if on cue, Crowley swept through the door. "Dean, always a pleasure," he said.

"I'm in on the Purgatory thing," Dean announced to him.

"Are you now?" Crowley asked. "Who says we want you in?" Crowley gave Sam a long look. "There's something different about you."

"Like what?" Sam asked.

"Not sure," Crowley said. He couldn't quite put his finger on it. Maybe there was nothing.

"So, what do you want with Purgatory?" Dean asked.

"Sam didn't tell you?" Crowley asked.

Dean realized his mistake. Sam was supposed to know. If he had let Dean in on it, he wouldn't have to ask Crowley.

"Wait, Sam knows what you want with Purgatory. You never told me," Samuel accused. Nobody, including him, was sure if he was accusing Sam or Crowley of the omission.

"A word, Sam," Crowley said and left the room. Sam followed him out leaving Dean and Samuel to stare at each other over the desk.

"We can't tell Dean and Samuel about the mother," Crowley said.

Sam had no idea what he was talking about. "Of course not. That's why I haven't said anything."

"Why even bring your moronic brother in on this anyway?" Crowley asked.

"He has his uses. Besides he was getting suspicious," Sam said. He needed to find out what Crowley meant about mother without asking. Even though there was a supposed deal with Samuel regarding his mother, Sam was pretty sure that was not what was meant here.

"Fine. Well as you know the rest of the Campbells don't know about my involvement. So, I'll just leave you with the whereabouts of the alpha's nest."

"About the mother?" Sam began.

"What about her?" Crowley asked.

Good question, Sam thought. He had hoped that that might be enough to get some more information, but apparently not. He didn't know what he could say to not arouse suspicion. "When will she arrive?" Sam asked.

"As soon as we perform the ritual. You know that." Crowley looked at Sam. "No, you don't know anything. What's wrong with you?"

Dean chose that moment to come out and see what was going on. "What's going on, Dean?" Crowley asked. "This is not the same Sam I've been dealing with."

"You haven't been dealing with Sam at all. You've been dealing with Lucifer." Sam had clearly been made. No need to prevaricate any longer.

Crowley swore. He should have realized. Sam knew things he had no right knowing. He had been holding back the key details. "Do you know what the ritual is?" Crowley asked.

Sam shook his head.

"Tell your grandfather the deal is off. I can't get to Purgatory, so he's not getting your mother back."

With that he disappeared.

"So, what just happened here?" Sam asked.

"I think we averted something worse than the Apocalypse," Dean answered.

The End

A/N Sorry, I just couldn't figure out where I was going with this.

See my profile page and vote on Appointment in Samarra


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